Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has faced criticism for celebrating the return of a British democracy activist released from prison in Egypt, who appeared to call for violence towards “zionists” in past social media posts.
Starmer said on Friday that he was “delighted” that Alaa Abd El-Fattah, who was released from prison in September after receiving a presidential pardon, had been reunited with his loved ones in the UK.
The sentiment was echoed on social media by Cabinet ministers including Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper and Justice Secretary David Lammy.
The Jewish Leadership Council, a charity which represents Jewish organisations across the UK, criticised the “effusive welcome” from the UK government, while senior Tory Robert Jenrick said Starmer’s “endorsement” of Mr Abd El-Fattah showed poor judgment given past social media posts that appear to show “extremist” views.
Mr Abd El-Fattah, a British-Egyptian dual national, was detained in Egypt in September 2019, and in December 2021 was sentenced to five years in prison on charges of spreading false news.
His imprisonment was branded a breach of international law by UN investigators, and Mr Abd El-Fattah was released after he was pardoned by Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi.
Labour’s Conservative predecessors had also lobbied for the release of Mr Abd El-Fattah, who was a leading voice in Egypt’s 2011 Arab Spring uprising and went on hunger strikes behind bars.
Starmer wrote on X: “I’m delighted that Alaa Abd El-Fattah is back in the UK and has been reunited with his loved ones, who must be feeling profound relief.
“I want to pay tribute to Alaa’s family, and to all those that have worked and campaigned for this moment.
“Alaa’s case has been a top priority for my government since we came to office. I’m grateful to President Sisi for his decision to grant the pardon.”
Shadow justice secretary Jenrick said the remarks constitute a “personal, public endorsement” from the Prime Minister.
“Given Mr Abd El-Fattah’s record of extremist statements about violence, Jews and the police, it was a serious error of judgment,” he wrote.
Jenrick referred to posts online going back as far as 2010 that appeared to be from Mr Abd El-Fattah’s X account. They include several posts that appear to call for violence towards “zionists”.
In 2014, the blogger’s posts on Twitter cost him a nomination for the European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize.
The group backing him withdrew the nomination for the human rights award, saying they had discovered a tweet from 2012 in which he called for the murder of Israelis.
In his letter to the Prime Minister, Jenrick asked him to clarify whether he knew about Mr Abd El-Fattah’s statements before he posted that he was “delighted” at his release.
“Do you condemn them without qualification, including the endorsement of killing Israelis and ‘zionists’ and the calls to kill police and burn Downing Street?”
He asked if the Prime Minister would “correct the record” and withdraw the “unalloyed endorsement”.
“Nobody should be imprisoned arbitrarily, nor for peaceful dissent. But neither should the Prime Minister place the authority of his office behind someone whose own words cross into the language of racism and bloodshed,” he said.
The Jewish Leadership Council also voiced concerns in the wake of recent antisemitic attacks in Manchester and at Australia’s Bondi Beach.
The council said: “We are appalled by the effusive welcome Alaa Abd El-Fattah has received from the UK government.
“The Prime Minister recently reiterated his determination to root out antisemitism from our country but has now shared his delight that someone who has advocated for killing Zionists has arrived in the UK.
“We know from Heaton Park, Manchester and Bondi Beach that there are those who hear such words as a call to action.
“The Government has celebrated Mr Abd El-Fattah’s arrival as a victory, British Jews will see it as yet another reminder of the danger we face.”
A Foreign Office spokesperson said: “Mr El-Fattah is a British citizen. It has been a long-standing priority under successive governments to work for his release from detention, and to see him reunited with his family in the UK.”
A representative for Mr Abd El-Fattah has been contacted for comment.
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